The league will fund and operate the New Jersey Devils, on the block and $230 million in debt, if no buyer steps up by the start of the (fiscal) season, according to Forbes. Team owner Jeff Vanderbeek has already missed a payment on a restructured bank loan.

Also at stake: the future of the Prudential Center. From Forbes:

Non-NHL events are down at the Prudential Center, also hurting Vanderbeek’s financial situation. One reason: arena operators prepay a portion of the money they are going to pay acts, like rock bands and the circus, and sources say the Devils do not have the cash to book events. During the first quarter of 2013 the Prudential Center was not among the world’s top 50 busiest arenas. The prior year it was ranked 11th-busiest.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly walked a bit of the report back at a press conference, ironically, meant to publicize the Devils' game against the New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium: "To the extent it suggests that League is intending to take over the Club, it is inaccurate."

Still, if the situation sounds a little familiar, it should. The league bought the Coyotes out of bankruptcy court four years ago, then struggled to find both a well-funded ownership group and favorable arena lease until the emergence of what's now known as Ice Arizona. That group's purchase closed on Monday.

One big variable here, though, is that the Devils aren't in bankruptcy. The league, understandably, wants to avoid that, since the main reason they took over Phoenix in the first place was to block Jim Balsillie's attempt to swoop in, buy the team in bankruptcy court, and move it to Southern Ontario.

Multiple sources indicated that no deal with either group was imminent and the timetable for the completion of the sale remained open-ended. Regardless of which group ends up purchasing the team, the Devils would remain in New Jersey and continue to play at Prudential Center in Newark.

In the meantime, there are positives to the situation.

-- Easy joke recycling. Have a favorite zinger about the league owning the Coyotes? Just swap teams. Ex: "If the Devils win the Stanley Cup, does Gary Bettman thank himself?" Good one!

-- Possible owner Bruce Springsteen. There has to be a Jay Z-esque deal out there where he buys $500,000 worth of the team or something. It's almost tough to imagine the unfettered joy—the sheer explosion of mirth—from sportswriters across the continent.

-- Keeping Seattle and Quebec City on the hook. If there's always a team in trouble, real or perceived, those cities will have to continue working toward making themselves viable NHL markets. Actually, that's sort of a bad thing.